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Skin, K-beauty, Korea trips and the beauty industry — ask and share
A 'clean beauty' label lawsuit reopened an old question: what does clean even mean?
A California class action filed in October 2025 claims that some products under Ulta Beauty's Conscious Beauty banner contain ingredients the retailer's own Made Without list excludes, naming parabens and benzophenone. U
0 0"Microbiome skincare": where R&D and marketing see it differently
Microbiome shows up in almost every new product brief these days. But R&D and marketing tend to read the word very differently. Where the friction usually is Very different ingredients share one label: lactobacillus ferm
0 0Before you put "clinically tested" on a product page, check these
Plenty of brands put a "clinically tested" badge at the top of their product pages. The shared view in the industry is that how you say it matters more than whether you say it. Checklist before using it What was tested:
0 0Before-and-after photos in cosmetic ads: how far is okay?
Before-and-after photos are among the most powerful assets in cosmetic advertising. That also makes them easy to get wrong, so marketers ask about them constantly. Common concerns Same conditions? Different lighting, ang
0 0Australia's SPF retest: 16 of 20 sunscreens missed their label. Lessons for R&D
The Australian sunscreen results from last year still come up in industry conversations. Consumer group CHOICE sent 20 sunscreens labeled SPF50 or 50+ to an accredited lab, and 16 fell short of their claim. Key points On
0 0Australian consumer test: 16 of 20 sunscreens missed their SPF claim
Australian consumer group CHOICE sent 20 popular sunscreens to an accredited lab to recheck their SPF. 16 of them came in below the number on the label. How the test worked The Australian/New Zealand standard method, app
0 0What does '기능성화장품' on a Korean skincare box mean?
Shop for skincare in Korea and you'll often see 기능성화장품 on the box. It means 'functional cosmetics'. In short It's a Korean regulatory category for cosmetics that make specific efficacy claims The best-known ones are brig
0 0Creator briefs: how much should a brand actually specify?
Anyone running creator collaborations hits the same tension: the tighter the brief, the safer it feels, but the more awkward the content gets. What brands usually want locked in The product name, key ingredient and how t
0 0Which beauty trend should we retire before 2027?
Time for a friendly vote. Some trends from the last couple of years were fun, some were useful, and some we are ready to see leave the feed. The candidates people complain about most on beauty forums: Shelfie flexing: fi
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Which trend should leave our feeds first?
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0 0Four structures you keep seeing in K-beauty short videos that travel well abroad
Scroll through K-beauty on TikTok or Instagram Reels and some formats repeat again and again. Here are the structures brand marketers often reference. None of them guarantees results, but they make good starting points f
0 0Why Korea's official "acne" claim only shows up on cleansers
Browse Olive Young for the official "helps relieve acne-prone skin" functional label and you will notice almost every hit is a face wash or body wash. That is by design. How the Korean rule works The acne-relief function
0 0Writing a product brief for the lab: don't leave these out
Work with an OEM/ODM lab or in-house R&D team and you will often hear "if only the brief were more specific." Samples bouncing back several times is often less about formulation skill and more about gaps in the brief. He
0 0Rice in K-beauty: rice water, bran, ferment — what's actually different
"Rice" on a label can mean several different ingredients. Here is a quick way to tell them apart. Rice extract / rice water Water-based extracts of the grain. They add light hydration and a soft, smooth feel. Traditional
0 0What can a hair loss shampoo realistically do?
Hair loss shampoos are a big shelf in Korea, and the conversation about them online swings between "miracle" and "scam". The honest answer sits in between. What people generally agree on: Shampoo sits on the scalp for a
0 0Efficacy Claims on Product Detail Pages: Wording That Can Easily Cause Problems
Expressions that make cosmetics ads look like they’re for medicines can easily cause problems. I’ve put together some common examples.
0 1Functional Cosmetics: Understand the Difference Between “Review” and “Notification” at a Glance
In Korea, products must be recognized as functional cosmetics to make efficacy claims such as brightening, wrinkle improvement, or UV protection. The process is divided into review and notification.
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Which functional category are you preparing for most these days?
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0 3Which Korean “brightening” ingredients should I choose?
In Korea, “미백 (brightening)” is a functional cosmetics category, with niacinamide and arbutin among its representative ingredients. The system differs from Japan’s quasi-drug system, so how to read product claims is also
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Which have you tried?
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0 1"Preservative-free" claims: what they really mean for a water-based product
Any product that contains water needs protection from microbes. "Preservative-free" formulas usually rely on packaging (single-use, airless), low water activity, or ingredients that also have antimicrobial effects.
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Do "free-from" claims help sales?
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0 1Korean dermocosmetics: why "pharmacy-style" skincare keeps growing
Brands with a clinical, minimal look — often linked to dermatology or pharma companies — have become a big part of Korean skincare shelves. Short ingredient lists and barrier-focused claims Clinic-adjacent storytelling S
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Is "derma" positioning getting crowded?
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